I posted a question to Google's public forum about a site that I've optimized, submitted and Googlebot has visited. Here is a copy of the post and their answer:

>I have a site I do the SEO for that has been driving me crazy, perhaps> one of you can help me figure out what is going on.> www.isstravpros.com dropped off of Google months ago, perhaps> because of bad SEO from previous designer or not. Don't know. I have> since reworked it. Suggested it to Google on 5-22-03 and to DMOZ. Site> has been in DMOZ for a while now, but not Google. Emailed Google for> reinclusion. Googlebot came by twice in the last week according to our> logs, but still we are not seeing this site indexed. There are at> least 3 backlinks according to Google and the page rank showing on my> toolbar is 5. I'm just about frantic to figure out what we can do to> at least get this site indexed. The impact on this business has been> severe (and I know Google doesn't give a flip, it's not their worry.)> I've never had a problem in the past getting sites indexed so it does> have me wondering what is up. And insights you might have will be> appreciated.

I suspect your site is penalized for participating in the Travel NurseNavigator ring. Your site's main page has a PageRank of 5, but isn'tshowing up for your primary keywords. TNN's main page has a PageRankof 0 - not a good sign. Taken together, those two factors seemdecisive. Lose the link at the bottom of your main page and I betyou're back in business in a week or so. I'd take credit for thisinspired observation, but there's been a rash of similar situationsbeing reported on this board lately, so I checked for it early on. Good luck!

Richard L. Trethewey

Now, my questions are: Is there a trend growing for Google to actively penalize websites for links to low ranking or new sites? It was just a straight link, not a ring. How does a new site stand a chance? Is there trend that will penalize sites for being members of various webrings? Are others having trouble getting legitimate websites indexed? This is the second of our sites that are not making it into the index for reasons unknown.

I know this is a long post, but I do appreciate your time in reading this and any insights the rest of you might have in this predicament!

First of all, it's important to note that the people who post in that Google forum are not working for Google, and as far as I know they have no special inside scoop from them either. Was there any indication that the person who answered your post was a Google employee? If not, what he said needs to be taken with a grain of salt, just like any other forum post anywhere on the Net.

If your main page has a PR5 then you're definitely not penalized for anything. Showing a PR5 means your site IS in the index, also. If you don't rank highly for your keyword phrases, then you need to optimize your site better for those keyword phrases, or choose new keyword phrases that are more relevant or less competitive.

Is there a trend growing for Google to actively penalize websites for links to low ranking or new sites?

Absolutely, positively NOT! Your site isn't penalized. You have a PR5. Now get to work on optimizing it instead of wondering about what Google might or might not be penalizing. If you're working on your site to make it be the best it can be, what Google is penalizing for is of no consequence to you. Same thing if you only link to sites that are also the best they can be, i.e, they provide value to your site visitors.

If you do anything less, then you can feel free to spend your time worrying about conspiracy theories, etc. But I'm quite sure you can use your time much more constructively!

Jill,
Thank you for your thoughts on the matter! I figured that wasn't a Google employee, that's why I'm asking around about it. His answer seemed strange at best.
The site has been optimized and I hope is the best that it can be. The reason Google has me so confused is that when you search on the business name, which is prominent in the page copy and title, the results are every page BUT theirs. That has lead me to believe that the site is not indexed. Also, when I do their site: or link: type of seach, it returns no documents. I have heard that PRs have been frozen since about May, so I'm not sure that is as reliable as it once was.
It has been a confounding few weeks with this poor site and I'm really trying to make sure this site has a fair shot in the index.